1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multi-pole connector which is employed for the purpose of making connections of the wire harness for the internal wiring of the automobiles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A wire harness employed for the purpose of making connections for the internal wiring of automobiles increases with the increase of electric appliance in automobiles. Connectors employed for the purpose of making connections for the wire harnesses tend to be multi-polarized accordingly. As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the Japanese Utility Model Application Laid Open No. 61-153975 discloses such multi-pole connector.
The connector in which the terminals can be double-locked, has a housing 140 made of insulating material for receiving a plurality of male terminals 141 arranged in a row, and holding the male terminals 141. A motion toward a direction of one axis of the plurality of male terminals 141 is prevented by the shoulder 142 in the housing 140.
The male terminals 141 are prevented from moving backward by a movable prong 145 band-connected to the housing 140. The movable prong 145 is movable between an open-position where the male terminals 141 can be inserted into or pulled out from the housing 140 and a close-position where the electric contacts are so pressed toward the shoulder 142 at where a part of the movable prong 145 engages with the male terminals 141.
A band 147 of the movable prong 145 is arranged on both side-ends of the male terminals 141. A plurality of engaging shoulders 146 for the male terminals are provided at the movable prong 145 and an opening 149 into which the plurality of engaging shoulders 146 for the male terminals are inserted is provided at the housing 140. The plurality of engaging shoulders 146 for the male terminals and the opening 149 are provided correspondingly to the male terminals 141. An engaging portion 148 in which, when the movable prong 145 is positioned at the open-position, the plurality of engaging shoulders 146 for the male terminals leave from the male terminals 141 and while, when the movable prong 145 is positioned at the close-position, the movable prong 145 engages with the male terminals 141 so as to be held the closed state. The engaging portion 148 is provided at the plurality of engaging shoulders 146 for the male terminals and at the housing 140. Furthermore, a tapered guide portion 150 of the male metallic terminal is formed in front of the housing 140 for easy insertion of the male terminal.
On the other hand, a connector shown in FIGS. 7 and 8 has been disclosed in the Japanese Utility Model Laid Open No. 64-34770. A plurality of terminal receiving chambers 232 are elongated in the longitudinal direction of a rectangular parallelpiped-housing 231 which is made of synthetic resin. An opening which arrives at each of the terminal receiving chamber 232 is formed backward at the base of the housing 231. Terminals 234 are inserted into each of the terminal receiving chamber 232 from the rear so as to be received.
The opening is so filled that a locking nail 239 of each terminal 234 engages with a lance 233 on the inside of the terminal receiving chamber 232, with the result that a second locking portion 238 can be removably mounted on the housing 231. The rear of a protuberance 251 of the terminal 234 is engaged with the front face of the second locking portion 238 so as to be locked the terminal 234. The resilient engaging portion 241 which is bendable from one side to the other at the lower part on both side surfaces of right and left of the housing 231, is integrally formed. Each locking nail 239 projected integrally on both sides of right and left of the second locking portion 238 is engaged respectively with these resilient engaging portions 241. Both ends of U-shaped band are joined integrally with the base of the resilient engaging portion 241 and the both end portions of right and left of the second locking portion 238.
However, in the above former first example, the tapered guide portion can not be formed at the position where the engaging shoulder for the male terminal is placed because the engaging shoulder for the male terminal is an encumbrance to the mold release thereof. When the width of the engaging shoulder portion of the female connector is approximated by the width of the tab of the male metallic terminal caused by the miniaturization of the connector, the male terminal can enter into the portion where the tapered guide portion of the female connector is not in existence, with the result that the front end portion of the female terminal is pierced with the male terminal. For this reason, omission of the terminal or bad conduction occurred.
Thereby, in the above latter second example, the tapered guide portion is so constituted that it is provided at whole periphery of the opening by shifting position of the lance. However there are problems that the external diameter of the connector becomes large and the height of the female terminal box becomes high because of shifting of the lance. Additionally, since the thickness of the tapered guide portion is thin because of shifting of the lance, when the male terminal is inserted into the female terminal box, the male terminal may pierce through the tapered guide portion.